Fall Cleaning, Quilts in the Rafters

Fall cleaning happened several weeks ago. The living room furniture was moved back while the quilts in the rafters were removed, the rafters were dusted and different quilts put on display.

This is Star Dance. Her finish was posted here.

9-Patch & Hourglass. Here is a link to the finish. This quilt has been shown before, she was one of the original quilts displayed when we first moved into the new house.

Many of you watched my applique and hand quilting journey with Hearts & Wreaths.

While the tall ladder was inside the house, the farmer dusted the triangle windows. I didn't have him wash them, I thought streaky windows would bother  me more than dusty windows.

Some people have expressed concern about him climbing up such a tall ladder. His response is he climbed up to the top of the silo on the farm for 50 years to adjust the blower. He no longer wants to or needs to do that. Climbing a 12 foot ladder is not a problem at all.

The Christmas cactus have come out of their quarantine in the garage and are now sitting underneath the south windows in the dining room. This is actually the same place they occupied on the porch except now they are inside the house instead of outside.

They're still loaded with buds so I'll have blooms for a long long time.

I don't have many indoor plants. There are the Christmas cactus which are outside in the moderate seasons and one large fern that stays indoors all year round. 

The amaryllis bulbs have been dug up from the flowerbed, they're resting now in the garden wagon. I'll be potting them at the end of the month to bloom this winter, hopefully starting in January.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Craft School Sunday, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Quilt Change in the Rafters, Blue Easy Breezy

Saturday we switched the quilts in the rafters, from Christmas quilts to blue & white quilts. One of those quilts was Welsh Beauty. 

After the quilts were hung and the ladder put away, I vacuumed and cleaned up. All afternoon I kept looking at Welsh Beauty, it's a lovely quilt but it just didn't speak to me, it was too muted.

Finally mentioned to the farmer that Welsh Beauty just didn't look right, it didn't sing to me. He agreed and said he'll go get the ladder. I let him pick between two quilts as to which one would the replacement. The choices were the embroidered Double Wedding Ring quilt or Blue Easy Breezy Courthouse Steps. He selected blue easy breezy.

We both agree, this was a change for the better, easy breezy is much more colorful and brighter.

I need to sew a sleeve on the back of Welsh Beauty and display her on the blue wall in the guest room which means Dear Jane will have to come down. I have a lot of blue & white quilts!

When I showed quilts in the rafters in Sunday's post, Margaret left this comment: Your quilts are always so beautiful, and they make your house glow. It’s all so lovely! I’ve often wondered how you select fabrics for your quilts - the fabrics work so well with the patterns you have chosen. They don’t compete or try to overtake the quilt pattern. Do you have any words of wisdom on how to select fabrics? Wishing you a peaceful and healthful New Year!

I've never thought about it but I normally try to have my background fabric light enough that the darker colors show. I've noticed when I see quilts that have very figured background fabric, I have trouble seeing the design. Sometimes when I look at busy quilts, I don't see anything but a mishmash of colors. I don't know if there is something wrong with my vision or if my brain just doesn't comprehend the design.

Blue easy breezy is probably the busiest quilt I've ever made. I do easily see the dark blue chain and the parts of the yellow chain but some of the blocks that have busier background fabrics are a blur to me. But I do like this quilt because it is full of bright blues and yellow and bring some color to our dreary drizzly winter we're having.

Linking to  Hugs & Stitches, To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down

Quilts in the Rafters

Yesterday the farmer and I switched the quilts in the rafters. He did the height work while I stood safely on the floor and told him what to do.

Welsh Beauty is in the dining area. The design of the quilt was hand quilted with blue Sulky #12 weight thread. It didn't show very well on the side toward the south window but I noticed it showed better on the north side. That's the side in this picture.

Welsh Beauty isn't a very showy quilt but it took me so long to hand quilt this quilt, I had to put it on display!

The west side rafter in the living room has blue churn dash. This quilt was also hand quilted and is a reproduction of a quilt made by the farmer's great grandmother.

The east side rafter is displaying Midnight Blues, the last finish of 2023.

In this picture you can see Lady Jane in the background of the dining room.

Here are a few more pictures.

I didn't get those quilts off the back of the couch. They're put away now.

I'm hoping to piece a blue & white wallhanging for the east wall this year. Yes, it's green outside, we didn't have a white Christmas but some of my Christmas cactus are blooming.

I can never make pictures go next to each other, oh well.

I told you I would show you pictures of the ladder we use to hang the quilts. Here they are. And yes, that is a duster he's holding. I figure as long as he's up there, he might as well dust those rafters!

Yes, those rafters are up there. This ladder was left by the former owner so I could wash those high windows! I don't think so.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell,  Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday

I have one more picture to show you. Peppermint Pines is now hanging on the hanger into the guest room. It's not the Christmas season but I'm displaying it anyway!

Christmas Quilts in the Rafters

I hope you had a blessed Christmas celebration with friends and families.

I don't do much Christmas decorating, several nativities are usually the extent of decorating. We haven't had a Christmas tree in years. No one enjoyed cleaning up the needles and artificial trees just look fake. Some years I have poinsettias but not this year, this year I have Christmas quilts in the rafters.

The front quilt is Peppermint Pines.

Here is a link for the Peppermint Pines pattern.

Behind Peppermint Pines is Christmas Stars.

Here is the link to the Christmas Stars tutorial. And yes, I did hang this quilt so the mistake is on the backside but I've found another mistake on this side facing the front door. It's there in the picture, finding it should keep you entertained if you enjoy puzzles. Oh well, I've never claimed to be perfect.

The green and red chain quilt is Wintersweet.

Here is the pattern link for Wintersweet. I did alter the pattern by finishing the chain out to the edge.

I've realized I like chain quilts!

I'm not able to take a picture of all three quilts at the same time.

Sweet Kisses is on the back of the couch but it doesn't scream Christmas quilt at you. 

The pattern for Sweet Kisses is here.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down